Jürgen Klopp has given an interesting interview ahead of next weekend’s Champions League Final. Here are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his footballing philosophy
If we’ve won, then essentially it doesn’t matter to me how we’ve played: a win’s a win. However, I know that your chances of winning are dramatically increased when you know how you’re winning. That means you have to play a certain style of football. It’s about developing a type of football for yourselves which mostly brings success. That’s what we’re doing – nothing else. The fact that it’s sometimes spectacular to watch is, for me, quite right. I love the way the players recognise their own strengths and look to use them, while recognising the strengths of the others and looking to use them.
What he learned from losing with Dortmund in the 2013 final
Nothing. What am I supposed to have learnt from the final? It was late in the season, as it always is with finals. We had a very tight schedule with press duties – it was all new to us. For the lads it still is, but not so much for me. At the end of the day, it’s about putting in the best performance you possibly can on the day. That’s what you do and then you need a bit of luck in the crucial moments. I’m Liverpool manager, I’m healthy, I have a fantastic family; I have a lot of luck in my life. In finals, that’s not been the case so far, so it’s a case of keeping on trying and winning by playing as well as possible. It’s the only opportunity we have to win a trophy [this season], and we’ll do everything we can to try to bring it to a successful ending for Liverpool.
On Real Madrid
They’re the defending champions, and they’ve won back-to-back titles in this competition. They’ve done really well under Zinédine Zidane. He’s one of the top five players of all time. I’m glad we’re not playing against each other – me marking him, or whatever. I’m very glad I can send my players on to the pitch. Just meeting him is awesome. I admired him as a player and respect him as a colleague. It’s incredible what he’s been doing with Madrid. It’s really, really extraordinary. But we’re not going [to Kiev] to grab some jerseys.
